Halifax Search & Rescue (HSAR) is a 100% non-profit, volunteer organization and registered charity with more than 150 active members on call 24/7, 365 days a year to respond to lost-person incidents and civil emergencies.

Our mandate is to locate and rescue lost persons within the greater Halifax area and throughout Nova Scotia. Our team covers hundreds of square kilometres of terrain including parks, forest, shorelines, and urban areas. Many of those we search for are hikers, hunters, children, and senior citizens—people like you and me.

Halifax Search & Rescue also serves the community through evidence searches with local police authorities, wilderness survival and education sessions, as well as evacuations and other civil emergencies in cooperation with the Nova Scotia Emergency Management Office and the Halifax Regional Municipality.(more about HSAR)

Map & Compass Course

Halifax Search & Rescue offers an interactive map and compass course several times a year. The course integrates classroom theory and hands-on exercises including using a map and compass.

Hug-a-Tree Program

HSAR is a registered charity that receives limited provincial and city grants each year to support its operations.

Halifax Municipality has contributed considerably to our operational expenses in recent years, and we are now reimbursed for all search-related requirements during a search and rescue or civil emergency operation. Beyond day-to-day operations however, we continue to rely heavily on fundraising for expenses such as the maintenance and purchase of specialized equipment, vehicles, training and safety gear needed to help us bring lost persons home.

Support from individuals and organizations enables us to focus on the task at hand while training personnel to respond to lost-person incidents and civil emergencies year round.

Halifax Search & Rescue would like to thank the following sponsors for their generous support: